I²CNER Research Seeds

  • Energy Analysis
  • Hydrogen Energy
  • Electric Energy
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Energy Analysis, Materials for Advanced Energy Systems,
Hydrogen Effects in Materials, Additive Manufacturing, Energy Efficiency Analysis, Energy Policy

Stubbins, James (PI)

Professor & Principal Investigator

  • Research Thrust : Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment Thrust
  • E-mail :
  • Website : http://npre.illinois.edu/

Research Outline

Materials Development for Hydrogen Applications

This work involves the development of low Ni Austenitic alloys for hydrogen service applications. The goal is to reduce the cost of the alloys by substituting other alloying elements for Ni and by increasing the material’s strength including the use of short range ordering.

SEM/EBSD analysis of L-PBF pure molybdenum as printed and molybdenum with 0.15% ZrC as printed and after HIP
C. Romnes et al., unpublished, presented at MiNES Dec 2023.
Materials Bonding Development for High Temperature Compact Heat Exchanges including Creep-Fatigue Service Conditions

This work involves the development of compact or printed heat exchange fabrication and performance for enhancing heat transfer efficiency for energy applications. The research involves developing optimal bonding between thin layers of high strength, high temperature alloys and assessing the tensile, creep and creep-fatigue performance.

SEM/EBSD analysis of compact heat exchanger bond line analysis. The bond lines are vertical through the center of the images. Ideally the bond line should disappear with grain growth across the bond interface.
Additive Manufacturing for Applications in a Variety of Extreme Application Conditions

This work involves the development of additively manufactured components for energy systems to enhance component performance and reduce fabrication costs and materials wastage. The technique involve ‘printing’ complex components and component shapes which can perform well in extreme corrosive and high temperature environments for advanced energy applications.

SEM image of L-PBF tungsten, top view of ultra-fine lattice, unit cell = 0.5 mm
C. Romnes et al., JMEP 31(8) (2022), pg. 6256-6269

Research Methods and Facilities

1. Our research work involves experimental analysis using high and low temperature mechanical testing, exposure to corrosive environments with particular efforts in elevated temperature creep, fatigue and creep-fatigue assessment of materials performance as a mechanism to improve materials characteristics.

2. Our research also includes the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) with laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and directed energy deposition (DED) using various alloys or metal mixtures to form a variety of printed alloy objects.

3. Our work also employs a great deal of microstructural analysis, such as SEM/EBSD, STEM, Atom Probe, and Micro/Nano Hardness, as a means of assessing and improving materials performance.

4. Our work also includes assessment of Advanced Energy applications and policy based on computational modeling techniques.

All of these capabilities can be shared with other researchers.

2024.07.16 Update
2024.05.09 Publish

All Research Seeds